Bonding systems

ABSTRACT

A bonding system includes a substrate transfer device configured to transfer a first substrate and a second substrate in a normal pressure atmosphere, a surface modifying apparatus configured to modify surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate to be bonded with each other in a depressurized atmosphere, a load lock chamber in which the first substrate and the second substrate are delivered between the substrate transfer device and the surface modifying apparatus and in which an internal atmosphere of the load lock chamber is switchable between an atmospheric pressure atmosphere and the depressurized atmosphere, a surface hydrophilizing apparatus configured to hydrophilize the modified surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate, and a bonding apparatus configured to bond the hydrophilized surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate by an intermolecular force.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-137632, filed on Jul. 12, 2016, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a bonding system.

BACKGROUND

In order to meet the demand for higher integration of semiconductor devices, use of a three-dimensional integration technique to stack semiconductor devices in three dimensions has been proposed. Systems adopting this three-dimensional integration technique utilize a bonding system for bonding substrates such as, e.g., semiconductor wafers (hereinafter referred to as “wafers”) or the like.

Such a bonding system includes a surface modifying apparatus for modifying the surfaces of first and second substrates to be bonded, a hydrophilizing apparatus for hydrophilizing the modified first and second substrates, and a bonding apparatus for bonding the hydrophilized first and second substrates by a van der Waals force and hydrogen bonding (an intermolecular force). The bonding system further includes a substrate transfer device for transferring the first and second substrates between the respective apparatuses.

However, in the aforementioned bonding system, the modifying process of the surface modifying apparatus is performed in a depressurized atmosphere. On the other hand, the transfer of the substrates by the substrate transfer device is performed in a normal pressure atmosphere. Therefore, in the aforementioned surface modifying apparatus, the switching of a chamber pressure is performed such that the atmosphere in a chamber is set to a normal pressure atmosphere when delivering the substrates to and from the transfer device and is set to a depressurized atmosphere when performing the modifying process.

In the surface modifying apparatus, it takes time to switch the chamber pressure because the volume of the chamber is relatively large. Therefore, in the aforementioned bonding system, there is room for further improvement in terms of shortening the processing time of the substrates.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a bonding system capable of shortening a processing time of substrates.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a bonding system which includes a substrate transfer device configured to transfer a first substrate and a second substrate in a normal pressure atmosphere, a surface modifying apparatus configured to modify surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate to be bonded with each other in a depressurized atmosphere, a load lock chamber in which the first substrate and the second substrate are delivered between the substrate transfer device and the surface modifying apparatus and in which an internal atmosphere of the load lock chamber is switchable between an atmospheric pressure atmosphere and the depressurized atmosphere, a surface hydrophilizing apparatus configured to hydrophilize the modified surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate, and a bonding apparatus configured to bond the hydrophilized surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate by an intermolecular force.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a configuration of a bonding system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of the bonding system according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a first substrate and a second substrate.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing a configuration of a position adjusting device.

FIG. 5A is a schematic plan view showing a configuration of an inverting transition.

FIG. 5B is a schematic side view showing the configuration of the inverting transition.

FIG. 6A is a schematic plan view showing a configuration of a transfer device.

FIG. 6B is a schematic side view showing the configuration of the transfer device.

FIG. 7 is a schematic side view showing a configuration of a substrate temperature control device.

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view showing a configuration of a bonding apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of the bonding apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a schematic side view showing an internal configuration of the bonding apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a schematic side view showing a configuration of an upper chuck and a lower chuck.

FIG. 12 is a schematic plan view of the upper chuck as viewed from below.

FIG. 13 is a schematic plan view of the lower chuck as viewed from above.

FIG. 14A is an operation explanation view of the bonding apparatus.

FIG. 14B is an operation explanation view of the bonding apparatus.

FIG. 14C is an operation explanation view of the bonding apparatus.

FIG. 14D is an operation explanation view of the bonding apparatus.

FIG. 14E is an operation explanation view of the bonding apparatus.

FIG. 14F is an operation explanation view of the bonding apparatus.

FIG. 14G is an operation explanation view of the bonding apparatus.

FIG. 14H is an operation explanation view of the bonding apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a part of a processing procedure of a process executed by the bonding system.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a part of a processing procedure of a process executed by the bonding system in a test mode.

FIG. 17A is a view for explaining position detection of peripheral edges of upper and lower wafers in a modification.

FIG. 17B is a flowchart showing an example of a position detection process in a modification.

FIG. 18 is a schematic plan view showing a configuration of a bonding system according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of the bonding system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a schematic plan view showing a configuration of a bonding system according to a third embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of a bonding system disclosed herein will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, systems, and components have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the various embodiments.

(First Embodiment)

<1. Configuration of Bonding System>

First, a configuration of a bonding system according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a configuration of a bonding system according to a first embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic side view thereof. Further, FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a first substrate and a second substrate. In the following description, in order to clarify the positional relationship, an X axis direction, a Y axis direction and a Z axis direction orthogonal to each other are defined. The Z axis positive direction is defined as a vertical upward direction. In each of the drawings including FIGS. 1 to 3, only the components necessary for explanation are shown, and the illustration of general components may be omitted in some cases.

The bonding system 1 according to this embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is configured to form a laminated substrate T by bonding a first substrate W1 and a second substrate W2 (see FIG. 3).

The first substrate W1 is, for example, a substrate in which a plurality of electronic circuits is formed on a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon wafer or a compound semiconductor wafer. The second substrate W2 is, for example, a bare wafer in which no electronic circuit is formed. The first substrate W1 and the second substrate W2 have approximately the same diameter.

An electronic circuit may be formed on the second substrate W2. As the aforementioned compound semiconductor wafer, it may be possible to use, for example, a wafer which contains gallium arsenide, silicon carbide, gallium nitride, indium phosphide or the like. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In the following description, the first substrate W1 may be referred to as “upper wafer W1”, the second substrate W2 may be referred to as “lower wafer W2”, and the laminated substrate T may be referred to as “laminated wafer T.”

In the following description, as shown in FIG. 3, the substrate surface of the upper wafer W1 to be bonded to the lower wafer W2 will be referred to as “bonding surface W1 j” and the substrate surface on the side opposite to the bonding surface W1 j will be referred to as “non-bonding surface W1 n.” Likewise, the substrate surface of the lower wafer W2 to be bonded to the upper wafer W1 will be referred to as “bonding surface W2 j” and the substrate surface on the side opposite to the bonding surface W2 j will be referred to as “non-bonding surface W2 n.”

As shown in FIG. 1, the bonding system 1 includes a loading/unloading station 2 and a processing station 3. The loading/unloading station 2 and the processing station 3 are arranged side by side in the order of the loading/unloading station 2 and the processing station 3 along the X axis positive direction. The loading/unloading station 2 and the processing station 3 are integrally connected to each other.

The loading/unloading station 2 includes a mounting table 10 and a transfer region 20. The mounting table 10 includes a plurality of mounting plates 11. On the respective mounting plates 11, cassettes C1, C2 and C3 for accommodating a plurality of substrates (for example, 25 substrates) in a horizontal state are mounted, respectively. The cassette C1 is a cassette for accommodating the upper wafer W1, the cassette C2 is a cassette for accommodating the lower wafer W2, and the cassette C3 is a cassette for accommodating the laminated wafer T. In the cassettes C1 and C2, the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are accommodated with their orientations aligned such that the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j face upward.

The transfer region 20 is disposed adjacent to the mounting table 10 on the side of the X axis positive direction. In the transfer region 20, a transfer path 21 extending in the Y axis direction and a transfer device 22 movable along the transfer path 21 are provided. The transfer device 22 is also movable in the X axis direction and is rotatable around the Z axis. The transfer device 22 transfers the upper wafer W1, the lower wafer W2 and the laminated wafer T between the cassettes C1 to C3 mounted on the mounting plates and the third processing block G3 of the processing station 3 to be described later.

The number of cassettes C1 to C3 mounted on the mounting plates 11 is not limited to that shown in the drawings. In addition to the cassettes C1, C2 and C3, a cassette for recovering a defective substrate or the like may be mounted on the mounting plates 11.

In the processing station 3, a plurality of, for example, three, processing blocks G1, G2 and G3 having various apparatuses are provided. For example, a first processing block G1 is provided on the rear side of the processing station 3 (on the side of the Y axis positive direction in FIG. 1), and a second processing block G2 is provided on the front side of the processing station 3 (the side of the Y axis negative direction in FIG. 1). A third processing block G3 is provided on the loading/unloading station 2 side (on the side of the X axis negative direction in FIG. 1) of the processing station 3.

In a region surrounded by the first processing block G1 to the third processing block G3, a transfer region 60 is formed. In the transfer region 60, a transfer device 61 is disposed. The transfer device 61 includes a transfer arm which is movable in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction and rotatable around the vertical axis. A detailed configuration of the transfer device 61 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B.

The transfer device 61 moves within the transfer region 60 and transfers the upper wafer W1, the lower wafer W2 and the laminated wafer T to predetermined apparatuses disposed in the first processing block G1, the second processing block G2 and the third processing block G3 adjacent to the transfer region 60.

In this regard, the transfer of the upper wafer W1, the lower wafer W2 and the laminated wafer T by the transfer device 61 is performed in a normal pressure atmosphere. The normal pressure is, for example, an atmospheric pressure. However, the normal pressure does not need to be exactly the same as the atmospheric pressure and may include a pressure range of, for example, ±10 kPa with respect to the atmospheric pressure. In addition, the transfer device 61 is an example of a substrate transfer device.

In the first processing block G1, a load lock chamber 31, a transfer chamber 32, a surface modifying apparatus 33 and a surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34 (see FIG. 2) are disposed.

The load lock chamber 31 is located at a position most distant from the loading/unloading station 2 in the first processing block G1 and is disposed adjacent to the Y axis positive direction side of the transfer region 60 via a gate valve 36 a. The transfer chamber 32 is disposed adjacent to the X axis negative direction side of the load lock chamber 31 via a gate valve 36 b, and the surface modifying apparatus 33 is located at a position closest to the loading/unloading station 2 in the first processing block G1 and is disposed adjacent to the X axis negative direction side of the transfer chamber 32 via a gate valve 36 c.

In the load lock chamber 31, the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are delivered between the transfer device 61 and the surface modifying apparatus 33. Specifically, a plurality of transitions (or substrate mounting tables) 31 a 1 and 31 a 2 is provided inside the load lock chamber 31 (see FIG. 2). The transitions 31 a 1 and 31 a 2 are configured to mount the upper wafer W1 or the lower wafer W2. In this embodiment, for example, the transition 31 a 1 mounts the upper wafer W1 or the lower wafer W2 loaded from the transfer device 61 into the surface modifying apparatus 33, and the transition 31 a 2 mounts the upper wafer W1 or the lower wafer W2 unloaded from the surface modifying apparatus 33 to the transfer device 61.

As shown in FIG. 2, the transitions 31 a 1 and 31 a 2 are stacked and disposed in the vertical direction. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the transitions 31 a 1 and 31 a 2 may be disposed so as to be adjacent to each other in a plan view. The transitions 31 a 1 and 31 a 2 are an example of a substrate mounting table.

A vacuum pump 31 c (see FIG. 2) is connected to the load lock chamber 31 via a suction pipe 31 b. Thus, for example, when the gate valves 36 a and 36 b are closed and when the vacuum pump 31 c is operated, the interior of the load lock chamber 31 is depressurized into a depressurized atmosphere. On the other hand, for example, when the gate valve 36 a is opened, the interior of the load lock chamber 31 communicates with the transfer region 60 whose interior is kept under an atmospheric pressure atmosphere. Thus, the atmosphere in the load lock chamber 31 becomes an atmospheric pressure atmosphere. As described above, the load lock chamber 31 is configured so that the atmosphere in the load lock chamber 31 can be switched between the atmospheric pressure atmosphere and the depressurized atmosphere.

In the transfer chamber 32, a transfer device for surface modifying apparatus (hereinafter referred to as “modifying transfer device”) 32 a is disposed. The modifying transfer device 32 a includes, for example, a transfer arm which is movable in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction and rotatable around the vertical axis. The modifying transfer device 32 a receives, for example, the unmodified upper wafer W1 or the like mounted on the transition 31 a 1 of the load lock chamber 31 and transfers the unmodified upper wafer W1 to the surface modifying apparatus 33. Furthermore, the modifying transfer device 32 a transfers the upper wafer W1 or the like modified in the surface modifying apparatus 33 to the load lock chamber 31 and mounts/places the upper wafer W1 or the like on the transition 31 a 2 (see FIG. 2).

A vacuum pump 32 c (see FIG. 2) is connected to the transfer chamber 32 via a suction pipe 32 b. When the vacuum pump 32 c is operated, the interior of the transfer chamber 32 is depressurized into a depressurized atmosphere. The gate valve 36 b is opened when the load lock chamber 31 is in the depressurized atmosphere. Similarly, the gate valve 36 c is opened when the surface modifying apparatus 33 is in the depressurized atmosphere.

Therefore, the transfer chamber 32 is constantly kept under the depressurized atmosphere by the vacuum pump 32 c. In this way, the modifying transfer device 32 a of the transfer chamber 32 is disposed adjacent to the load lock chamber 31 and is configured to transfer the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 between the load lock chamber 31 and the surface modifying apparatus 33 under the depressurized atmosphere.

The surface modifying apparatus 33 is configured to modify the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2. A vacuum pump 33 c (see FIG. 2) is connected to the surface modifying apparatus 33 via a suction pipe 33 b. When the vacuum pump 33 c is operated, the interior of the surface modifying apparatus 33 is depressurized into a depressurized atmosphere. As with the transfer chamber 32, the surface modifying apparatus 33 is also constantly kept in the depressurized atmosphere.

Therefore, the surface modifying apparatus 33 modifies the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 under the depressurized atmosphere. More specifically, the surface modifying apparatus 33 breaks the bonds of SiO₂ on the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 to form single-bond SiO₂, thereby modifying the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j so that the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j can be subsequently hydrophilized with ease.

In the surface modifying apparatus 33, an oxygen gas, which is a process gas, is excited into plasma under a processing apparatus and is ionized. Then, the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are irradiated with the oxygen ions, whereby the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j are subjected to plasma treatment and are modified.

The internal volume of the load lock chamber 31 described above is set to become smaller than the internal volume of the surface modifying apparatus 33 or the transfer chamber 32. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

Now, the transfer of the upper wafer W1 in the load lock chamber 31, the transfer chamber 32 and the surface modifying apparatus 33 configured as above will be described in detail. Since the lower wafer W2 is transferred in the same manner as the upper wafer W1, the following description is also generally applicable to the transfer of the lower wafer W2. It is assumed that the gate valves 36 a, 36 b and 36 c are all closed.

Specifically, first, when the unmodified upper wafer W1 is transferred to the front of the load lock chamber 31 by the transfer device 61, the gate valve 36 a is opened and the unmodified upper wafer W1 is mounted on the transition 31 a 1 of the load lock chamber 31. In addition, when the unmodified upper wafer W1 is mounted on the transition 31 a 1, there may be a case where the upper wafer W1 or the lower wafer W2 already modified in the previous process is mounted on the transition 31 a 2. In such a case, after mounting the unmodified upper wafer W1 on the transition 31 a 1, the transfer device 61 may receive the upper wafer W1 or the lower wafer W2 mounted on the transition 31 a 2 and may remove the upper wafer W1 or the lower wafer W2 from the load lock chamber 31.

Next, the gate valve 36 a is closed, the vacuum pump 31 c is operated, and the load lock chamber 31 is depressurized into a depressurized atmosphere.

Next, the gate valves 36 b and 36 c are opened, and the modifying transfer device 32 a transfers the upper wafer W1 mounted on the transition 31 a 1 to the surface modifying apparatus 33. Subsequently, the gate valves 36 b and 36 c are closed, and the modifying process of the upper wafer W1 is performed by the surface modifying apparatus 33.

When the modifying process is completed, the gate valves 36 b and 36 c are opened. The modifying transfer device 32 a takes out the upper wafer W1 from the surface modifying apparatus 33 and transfers the upper wafer W1 to the transition 31 a 2 of the load lock chamber 31. Next, after the gate valves 36 b and 36 c are closed, the gate valve 36 a is opened so that the internal atmosphere of the load lock chamber 31 is switched from the depressurized atmosphere to the atmospheric pressure atmosphere.

Then, the transfer device 61 takes out the modified upper wafer W1 from the transition 31 a 2 of the load lock chamber 31 and transfers the modified upper wafer W1 to the surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34 where the next process is performed.

As described above, the bonding system 1 according to the present embodiment includes the load lock chamber 31 in which the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are delivered between the transfer device 61 and the surface modifying apparatus 33 and in which the atmosphere can be switched between the atmospheric pressure atmosphere and the depressurized atmosphere.

Thus, in the bonding system 1, it is possible to shorten the processing time of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2. That is to say, when the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are loaded and unloaded to and from the surface modifying apparatus 33, if the internal pressure of the load lock chamber 31 is made switchable, it is possible for the surface modifying apparatus 33 to carry out the modifying process while maintaining the depressurized atmosphere. Accordingly, in the surface modifying apparatus 33, the process of switching the atmospheric pressure atmosphere to the depressurized atmosphere is not required. This makes it possible to shorten the time required for the modifying process of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2.

The internal volume of the load lock chamber 31 is set to become smaller than the internal volume of the surface modifying apparatus 33 or the transfer chamber 32. This makes it possible to shorten the time required for switching the internal pressure of the load lock chamber 31 as compared with the time required for switching the internal pressure of the surface modifying apparatus 33.

Furthermore, the modifying transfer device 32 a is not disposed in the load lock chamber 31 but is disposed adjacent to the load lock chamber 31. Thus, the load lock chamber 31 can be reduced in size as compared with the case where the modifying transfer device 32 a is disposed in the load lock chamber 31. As a result, it is possible to further shorten the time required for switching the internal pressure of the load lock chamber 31.

The surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34 (see FIG. 2) hydrophilizes and cleans the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 by a hydrophilization treatment liquid such as, for example, pure water or the like. In the surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34, for example, pure water is supplied onto the upper wafer W1 or the lower wafer W2 while rotating the upper wafer W1 or the lower wafer W2 held by a spin chuck. As a result, the pure water supplied onto the upper wafer W1 or the lower wafer W2 diffuses on the bonding surface W1 j or W2 j of the upper wafer W1 or the lower wafer W2, whereby the bonding surface W1 j or W2 j is made hydrophilic.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the first processing block G1, the load lock chamber 31, the transfer chamber 32, the surface modifying apparatus 33 and the surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34 are disposed in a stacked state. More specifically, for example, in the first processing block G1, the load lock chamber 31, the transfer chamber 32 and the surface modifying apparatus 33 are disposed in the lower stage on the Z axis negative direction side, while the surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34 is disposed in the upper stage on the Z axis positive direction side.

As described above, in this embodiment, the load lock chamber 31, the transfer chamber 32 and the surface modifying apparatus 33 are disposed below the surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34. Thus, for example, the vacuum pumps 31 c, 32 c and 33 c and the suction pipes 31 b, 32 b and 33 b connected to the load lock chamber 31, the transfer chamber 32 and the surface modifying apparatus 33 can be collectively disposed below the bonding system 1. This makes it possible to downsize the entire system.

Furthermore, the vacuum pumps 31 c, 32 c and 33 c are disposed in the vicinity of the load lock chamber 31, the transfer chamber 32 and the surface modifying apparatus 33. It is therefore possible to shorten the suction pipes 31 b, 32 b and 33 b, eventually minimizing the time required for depressurization.

The arrangement positions of the load lock chamber 31, the surface modifying apparatus 33 and the surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34 shown in FIG. 1 are illustrative and not limitative. That is to say, the load lock chamber 31 and the surface modifying apparatus 33 may be disposed above the surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34. Furthermore, for example, the load lock chamber 31 and the surface modifying apparatus 33 may be disposed in the second processing block G2 or the third processing block G3. Moreover, for example, a new station may be provided at a position on the X axis positive direction side of the processing station 3 or between the loading/unloading station 2 and the processing station 3. The load lock chamber 31 and the surface modifying apparatus 33 may be disposed in the new station.

In the second processing block G2, a bonding apparatus 41, a substrate temperature control device 42 and an exhaust port 43 are disposed. The bonding apparatus 41 is located at a position closest to the loading/unloading station 2 in the second processing block G2. The substrate temperature control device 42 is disposed adjacent to the bonding apparatus 41 on the X axis positive direction side thereof. The substrate temperature control device 42 is disposed adjacent to the exhaust port 43 on the X axis negative direction side thereof.

The bonding apparatus 41 bonds the hydrophilized upper wafer W1 and the hydrophilized lower wafer W2 by an intermolecular force. The detailed configuration of the bonding apparatus 41 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 8 to 14H.

The substrate temperature control device 42 controls the temperature of the upper wafer W1 before bonding and the temperature of the lower wafer W2 before bonding, respectively. The detailed configuration of the substrate temperature control device 42 will be described later with reference to FIG. 7.

The exhaust port 43 discharges a temperature control gas (hereinafter referred to as “temperature control air”). That is to say, although not shown in the drawings, the processing station 3 is provided with an air supply port which is disposed at an appropriate position such as, for example, a ceiling portion on the side of the loading/unloading station 2 or the like so as to supply the temperature control air. The exhaust port 43 is configured to discharge the temperature control air supplied from the air supply port and passing through the processing station 3 to the outside of the processing station 3.

Therefore, in the processing station 3, the bonding apparatus 41, the substrate temperature control device 42 and the exhaust port 43 are disposed in this order along the flow direction of the temperature control air (the X axis positive direction). In other words, the substrate temperature control device 42 is disposed on the downstream side of the bonding apparatus 41 in the flow direction of the temperature control air.

The arrangement position of the exhaust port 43 is not limited to the example shown in the drawing. The exhaust port 43 may be disposed at other positions, for example, in the vicinity of the load lock chamber 31 or in the vicinity of the transfer region 60. Furthermore, the position of the air supply port is not limited to the one described above. The air supply port may be disposed at other positions such as a floor portion or a wall portion of the processing station 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the third processing block G3, a position adjusting device 51, transitions 53 and 54, and an inverting transition 55 are stacked and arranged sequentially from the upper side. The arrangement locations of the respective devices in the third processing block G3 are merely illustrative and not limitative.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing a configuration of the position adjusting device 51. The position adjusting device 51 adjusts the horizontal orientations of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2. As shown in FIG. 4, the position adjusting device 51 includes a base 51 a, a holding part 51 b configured to suck, hold and rotate the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2, a detecting part 51 c configured to detect a position of a notch portion of each of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2, and a base inverting part 51 d configured to invert the base 51 a.

In the position adjusting device 51, the position of the notch portion of each of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 is detected by the detecting part 51 c while rotating the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 sucked and held by the holding part 51 b, whereby the horizontal orientations of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are adjusted by adjusting the positions of the notch portions.

In the detecting part 51 c, for example, a camera (not shown) may be provided so as to capture images of the peripheral edges of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2. For example, the detecting part 51 c captures an image of the peripheral edge of the upper wafer W1 or the like while rotating the upper wafer W1 or the like held by the holding part 51 b by one rotation, and plots the peripheral edge of the upper wafer W1 or the like based on the captured image. The detecting part 51 c may detect the radius of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 based on the information on the peripheral edge of the upper wafer W1 or the like thus plotted.

In this manner, the position adjusting device 51 also functions as a radius detecting device for detecting the radius of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2. In the above description, the radius of the upper wafer W1 or the like is detected by the position adjusting device 51. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, identification information (ID) indicating the radius or the like may be attached to the upper wafer W1 or the like. The radius may be detected by reading such identification information.

The base inverting part 51 d includes, for example, a motor and the like. The base inverting part 51 d is connected to the base 51 a and is configured to invert the base 51 a for each upper wafer W1 held by the holding part 51 b. Thus, the front and back surfaces of the upper wafer W1 held by the holding part 51 b are inverted. Accordingly, for example, the upper wafer W1 whose horizontal orientation is adjusted comes into a state in which the bonding surface W1 j serves as a lower surface (see FIG. 2) by the above-described inversion. In this state, the upper wafer W1 is unloaded from the position adjusting device 51. The upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 unloaded from the position adjusting device 51 are transferred to the substrate temperature control device 42 and are temperature-controlled.

Returning to the description of FIG. 2, the upper wafer W1 transferred by the transfer device 22 or the transfer device 61 is temporarily mounted on the transition 53. Furthermore, the lower wafer W2 or the laminated wafer T transferred by the transfer device 22 or the transfer device 61 is temporarily mounted on the transition 54.

The inverting transition 55 is a device used in a test mode to be described later and configured to temporarily hold the upper wafer W1 or the lower wafer W2 returned from the bonding apparatus 41 in a state in which the bonding surface W1 j or W2 j serves as a lower surface. The inverting transition 55 is an example of a substrate transfer device.

FIG. 5A is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of the inverting transition 55, and FIG. 5B is a schematic side view showing the configuration of the inverting transition 55. As shown in FIG. 5B, the inverting transition 55 includes a holding part 56 and an inverting mechanism 57. The holding part 56 holds, on the side of a lower surface 56 a 1 thereof, the upper wafer W1 or the lower wafer W2 having the bonding surface W1 j or W2 j as a lower surface.

Specifically, the holding part 56 is provided with a suction portion 56 a 2 on the side of a lower surface 56 a 1 thereof. A vacuum pump 56 a 4 is connected to the suction portion 56 a 2 via a suction pipe 56 a 3. Therefore, the lower surface 56 a 1 of the holding part 56 holds the upper wafer W1 or the lower wafer W2 through vacuum suction by the operation of the vacuum pump 56 a 4. As a result, the holding part 56 can reliably hold the upper wafer W1 and the like.

The holding part 56 is further provided with a suction portion 56 b 2 on the side of an upper surface 56 b 1 thereof. A vacuum pump 56 b 4 is connected to the suction portion 56 b 2 via a suction pipe 56 b 3. Therefore, the upper surface 56 b 1 of the holding part 56 is configured to be able to suck the upper wafer W1 or the like by the operation of the vacuum pump 56 b 4.

The inverting mechanism 57 includes, for example, a motor and the like. The inverting mechanism 57 is connected to the holding part 56 and is configured to invert the front and back surfaces of the upper wafer W1 or the like held by the holding part 56. The inverting mechanism 57 of the inverting transition 55 inverts the upper wafer W1 not bonded by the bonding apparatus 41, for example, in a test mode.

Specifically, the upper wafer W1 having the bonding surface W1 j as a lower surface is transferred by the transfer device 61 to the inverting transition 55 and is held by the suction portion 56 a 2. Next, the inverting mechanism 57 inverts the holding part 56 so that the upper wafer W1 comes into a state in which the bonding surface W1 j thereof serves as an upper surface. The upper wafer W1 in such a state is shown by imaginary lines in FIGS. 5A and 5B. The test mode in which the inverting transition 55 is used will be described later.

Next, the configuration of the transfer device 61 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B. FIG. 6A is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of the transfer device 61, and FIG. 6B is a schematic side view showing the configuration of the transfer device 61.

As shown in FIG. 6B, the transfer device 61 includes a first holding part 62 a, a second holding part 62 b provided to face the lower side of the first holding part 62 a, and a first driving part 64. As the first holding part 62 a and the second holding part 62 b, it may be possible to use a bifurcated fork whose lateral width is smaller than the diameter of the upper wafer W1 or the like. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In this embodiment, the first holding part 62 a is used for holding the upper wafer W1 having the bonding surface W1 j as a lower surface. On the other hand, the second holding part 62 b is used for holding the lower wafer W2 having the bonding surface W2 j as an upper surface, the upper wafer W1 having the bonding surface W1 j as an upper surface, the laminated wafer T, and the like. The types of the respective wafers held by the first holding part 62 a and the second holding part 62 b are illustrative and not limitative. For example, the first holding part 62 a may hold the laminated wafer T.

In the first holding part 62 a, a plurality of suction portions 62 a 2 (indicated by broken lines in FIG. 6A) is provided on the side of a lower surface 62 a 1 thereof. A vacuum pump 62 a 4 is connected to the suction portions 62 a 2 via a suction pipe 62 a 3. Therefore, the first holding part 62 a holds the upper wafer W1 through vacuum suction by the operation of the vacuum pump 62 a 4. Specifically, the first holding part 62 a holds the upper wafer W1 having the bonding surface W1 j as a lower surface from the side of the non-bonding surface W1 n (upper surface side) by vacuum suction.

The second holding part 62 b includes a plurality of suction portions (not visible in FIGS. 6A and 6B) on the side of an upper surface 62 b 1. A vacuum pump 62 b 4 is connected to the suction portions via a suction pipe 62 b 3 (see FIG. 6B). Therefore, the second holding part 62 b holds the lower wafer W2 or the like through vacuum suction by the operation of the vacuum pump 62 b 4.

Specifically, the second holding part 62 b holds the lower wafer W2 having the bonding surface W2 j as an upper surface through vacuum suction from the side of the non-bonding surface W2 n (lower surface side) by allowing the lower wafer W2 to face the upper wafer W1. Although not shown, the second holding part 62 b also holds the laminated wafer T by vacuum suction as described above.

In this manner, the first holding part 62 a holds the upper wafer W1 by vacuum suction, and the second holding part 62 b holds the lower wafer W2 by vacuum suction. Thus, the first and second holding parts 62 a and 62 b can reliably hold the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2.

The first driving part 64 is connected to the first holding part 62 a and the second holding part 62 b. The first driving part 64 drives the first holding part 62 a and the second holding part 62 b together and integrally moves the first holding part 62 a and the second holding part 62 b in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction and about the vertical axis with respect to a base 65. Although not shown, the first driving part 64 includes a drive source such as a motor or the like and a power transmission mechanism such as a belt or the like.

By configuring the transfer device 61 as described above, it is possible to downsize the transfer device 61. That is to say, for example, if driving parts are respectively connected to the first holding part 62 a and the second holding part 62 b, the number of driving parts is two and the transfer device 61 is increased in size. However, in the transfer device 61 according to the present embodiment, the first and second holding parts 62 a and 62 b are driven together by one first driving part 64. This makes it possible to reduce the size of the transfer device 61.

When transferring the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 to the bonding apparatus 41, the transfer device 61 holds the upper wafer W1 with the first holding part 62 a and holds the lower wafer W2 with the second holding part 62 b, thereby transferring the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 together.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 6B, the first holding part 62 a holds the upper wafer W1 having the bonding surface W1 j as a lower surface from the upper surface side, and the second holding part 62 b holds the lower wafer W2 having the bonding surface W2 j as an upper surface from the lower surface side by allowing the lower wafer W2 to face the upper wafer W1.

Thus, in the bonding apparatus 41, the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are transferred in the same orientation as that available when performing a bonding process. Therefore, in the bonding apparatus 41, it is not necessary to perform, for example, a process of inverting the orientation of the upper wafer W1. As a result, it is possible to shorten the time required for performing the bonding process in the bonding apparatus 41.

The transfer device 61 further includes a plurality of (four, in this example) position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d. For example, the position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d are fixed to the base 65. The position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d detect the positions of the peripheral edges of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 held by the first holding part 62 a and the second holding part 62 b, at different locations, respectively.

More specifically, each of the position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d includes a light projecting part 71 and a light receiving part 72. The light projecting part 71 and the light receiving part 72 are disposed at positions where the light projecting part 71 and the light receiving part 72 sandwich the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 held by the first holding part 62 a and the second holding part 62 b from above and below. That is, the position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d are disposed perpendicularly to the surfaces (for example, the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j and the non-bonding surfaces W1 n and W2 n) of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 held by the first holding part 62 a and the second holding part 62 b

The arrangement of the light projecting part 71 and the light receiving part 72 is not limited to the example described above. For example, the light projecting part 71 may be disposed above the upper wafer W1 or the like and the light receiving part 72 may be disposed below the upper wafer W1 or the like. As the light receiving part 72, it may be possible to use a line sensor in which a plurality of light receiving elements is linearly arranged. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

The light receiving part 72 receives the light irradiated from the light projecting part 71 using the light receiving elements. However, when the upper wafer W1 or the like exists between the light projecting part 71 and the light receiving part 72, the light is partially blocked by the upper wafer W1 or the like.

As a result, in the light receiving part 72, a difference occurs in the amount of received light between the light receiving element that receives light and the light receiving element that does not receive light. The position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d detect the position of the peripheral edge of the upper wafer W1 or the like based on the difference in the amount of received light. The position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d send a signal indicating the detection result to a control device 100 (see FIG. 1) which will be described later. A process for detecting the position of the peripheral edge of the upper wafer W1 or the like by the position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d will be described later.

Returning to the description of FIG. 1, the bonding system 1 includes a control device 100. The control device 100 controls the operation of the bonding system 1. The control device 100 is, for example, a computer, and includes a control part and a memory unit (not shown). A program for controlling various processes such as a bonding process and the like, data used in various processes, and the like are stored in the memory part. The control part controls the operation of the bonding system 1 by reading out and executing the program or the like stored in the memory part.

Such a program may be recorded in a computer-readable recording medium and may be installed in the memory part of the control device 100 from the recording medium. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include a hard disk (HD), a flexible disk (FD), a compact disk (CD), a magneto-optical disk (MO), a memory card, and the like.

Now, the substrate temperature control device 42 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of the substrate temperature control device 42.

The upper wafer W1 having the bonding surface W1 j as a lower surface and the lower wafer W2 having the bonding surface W2 j as an upper surface are transferred to the substrate temperature control device 42 by the transfer device 61. The substrate temperature control device 42 controls the temperature of each of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the substrate temperature control device 42 includes a first temperature control holding plate 42 a and a second temperature control holding plate 42 b.

The first temperature control holding plate 42 a holds the upper wafer W1 before bonding, more specifically, the upper wafer W1 after hydrophilizing and before bonding. Specifically, the first temperature control holding plate 42 a is provided with a plurality of holding pins 42 a 2 on a holding surface 42 a 1 for holding the upper wafer W1. The holding pins 42 a 2 are configured to be movable upward and downward with respect to the holding surface 42 a 1 of the first temperature control holding plate 42 a.

A vacuum pump 42 a 4 is connected to the holding pins 42 a 2 via a suction pipe 42 a 3. Therefore, the first temperature control holding plate 42 a holds the upper wafer W1 through vacuum suction by the operation of the vacuum pump 42 a 4. It is assumed that the non-bonding surface W1 n of the upper wafer W1 is sucked and held by the holding pins 42 a 2 of the first temperature control holding plate 42 a.

Furthermore, a first temperature control mechanism 42 a 5 is built in the first temperature control holding plate 42 a. For example, a temperature-controlled coolant such as cooling water or the like is circulated through the first temperature control mechanism 42 a 5. Accordingly, the first temperature control holding plate 42 a controls the temperature of the upper wafer W1 by adjusting the cooling temperature of the first temperature control mechanism 42 a 5 or by raising and lowering the holding pins 42 a 2 to adjust the spaced-apart distance between the holding pins 42 a 2 and the upper wafer W1.

The second temperature control holding plate 42 b is disposed so that the holding surface 42 b 1 thereof faces the holding surface 42 a 1 of the first temperature control holding plate 42 a. The second temperature control holding plate 42 b holds the lower wafer W2 before bonding, specifically the lower wafer W2 after hydrophilizing and before bonding. Specifically, the second temperature control holding plate 42 b is provided with a plurality of holding pins 42 b 2 on a holding surface 42 b 1 for holding the lower wafer W2. The holding pins 42 b 2 are configured to be movable upward and downward with respect to the holding surface 42 b 1 of the second temperature control holding plate 42 b.

A vacuum pump 42 b 4 is connected to the holding pins 42 b 2 via a suction pipe 42 b 3. Therefore, the second temperature control holding plate 42 b holds the lower wafer W2 through vacuum suction by the operation of the vacuum pump 42 b 4. It is assumed that the non-bonding surface W2 n of the lower wafer W2 is sucked and held by the holding pins 42 b 2. In the above description, the second temperature control holding plate 42 b holds the lower wafer W2 by suction. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the vacuum pump 42 b 4 and the suction pipe 42 b 3 may be removed and the lower wafer W2 may be held by mounting.

A second temperature control mechanism 42 b 5 is built in the second temperature control holding plate 42 b. For example, a coolant is circulated through the second temperature control mechanism 42 b 5. A plurality of proximity pins 42 b 7 capable of supporting the lower wafer W2 is provided on the holding surface 42 b 1 of the second temperature control holding plate 42 b.

In the second temperature control holding plate 42 b configured as above, the transferred lower wafer W2 is held by the holding pins 42 b 2. Subsequently, the holding pins 42 b 2 are moved down until the tips of the holding pins 42 b 2 are positioned lower than the proximity pins 42 b 7. As a result, the lower wafer W2 is supported by the proximity pins 42 b 7. An appropriate gap is secured between the lower wafer W2 and the holding surface 42 b 1 of the second temperature control holding plate 42 b. In this manner, the second temperature control holding plate 42 b adjusts the temperature of the lower wafer W2 in a state in which an appropriate spaced-apart distance between the second temperature control holding plate 42 b and the lower wafer W2 is maintained.

Although the proximity pins 42 b 7 are used in the second temperature control holding plate 42 b, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the proximity pins 42 b 7 may be removed and the temperature of the lower wafer W2 may be adjusted by lowering the holding pins 42 b 2 to a position where the holding pins 42 b 2 is appropriately spaced apart from the lower wafer W2, and maintaining the holding pins 42 b 2 at the position.

As the first and second temperature control mechanisms 42 a 5 and 42 b 5, it may be possible to use cooling jackets or the like. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, other types of temperature control mechanisms such as a heater and the like may be used.

The substrate temperature control device 42 configured as above performs temperature control so that the lower wafer W2 before bonding has a higher temperature than the temperature of the upper wafer W1 before bonding. As a result, it is possible to suppress scaling.

Scaling is a phenomenon that, for example, in the bonded laminated wafer T, a positional deviation occurs in the horizontal direction at the peripheral edges of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2, even if the central portions of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are aligned with each other. This phenomenon occurs because, as will be described later, when bonding the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2, the central portion W1 a of the upper wafer W1 is lowered toward the central portion W2 a of the lower wafer W2 by a pushing member 250 (see FIG. 14D), whereby the upper wafer W1 is warped and stretched downward in a convex shape.

Therefore, in the substrate temperature control device 42 according to this embodiment, the temperature control is performed so that the lower wafer W2 before bonding has a higher temperature than the temperature of the upper wafer W1 before bonding, thereby expanding the lower wafer W2. Thus, it is possible to effectively suppress the horizontal positional deviation (scaling) of the peripheral edges of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2.

In the above description, the substrate temperature control device 42 performs temperature control so that the lower wafer W2 before bonding has a higher temperature than the temperature of the upper wafer W1 before bonding. However, this is illustrative and not limitative. For example, the lower wafer W2 and the upper wafer W1 may have the same temperature.

In the above description, the substrate temperature control device 42 controls the temperatures of both the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The temperature of any one of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 may be controlled.

As described above, the substrate temperature control device 42 is disposed on the downstream side of the bonding apparatus 41 in the flow direction of the temperature control air (see FIG. 1). Accordingly, the temperature environments around the substrate temperature control device 42 and the bonding apparatus 41 are similar. Thus, when the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 whose temperatures have been controlled by the substrate temperature control device 42 are transferred to the bonding apparatus 41, it is possible to limit influences such as a decrease in the wafer temperature due to the surrounding temperature. Consequently, it is possible to easily manage the temperatures of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2.

<2. Configuration of Bonding Apparatus>

Next, the configuration of the bonding apparatus 41 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 13. FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of the bonding apparatus 41, and FIG. 9 is a schematic side view thereof. FIG. 10 is a schematic side view showing the internal configuration of the bonding apparatus 41.

As shown in FIG. 8, the bonding apparatus 41 includes a processing container 190 capable of hermetically sealing the interior thereof. A loading/unloading port 191 for the upper wafer W1, the lower wafer W2 and the laminated wafer T is formed on the side surface of the processing container 190 on the side of the transfer region 60. An opening/closing shutter 192 is provided at the loading/unloading port 191.

As shown in FIG. 9, an upper chuck 230 and a lower chuck 231 are provided inside the processing container 190. The upper chuck 230 sucks and holds the upper wafer W1 from above. The lower chuck 231 is provided below the upper chuck 230 to suck and hold the lower wafer W2 from below.

As shown in FIG. 9, the upper chuck 230 is supported by a support member 280 provided on the ceiling surface of the processing container 190.

In the support member 280, an upper imaging part 281 (see FIG. 10) is provided for capturing an image of the bonding surface W2 j of the lower wafer W2 held by the lower chuck 231. The upper imaging part 281 is provided adjacent to the upper chuck 230.

As shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, the lower chuck 231 is supported by a first lower chuck moving part 290 provided below the lower chuck 231. The first lower chuck moving part 290 moves the lower chuck 231 in the horizontal direction (Y axis direction) as described later. Furthermore, the first lower chuck moving part 290 is configured to be able to move the lower chuck 231 in the vertical direction and to be able to rotate the lower chuck 231 about the vertical axis.

In the first lower chuck moving part 290, there is provided a lower imaging part 291 for capturing an image of the bonding surface W1 j of the upper wafer W1 held by the upper chuck 230. The lower imaging part 291 is provided adjacent to the lower chuck 231.

As shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, the first lower chuck moving part 290 is attached to a pair of rails 295 and 295 provided on the lower surface side of the first lower chuck moving part 290 and extending in the horizontal direction (Y axis direction). The first lower chuck moving part 290 is configured to be movable along the rails 295 and 295.

The rails 295 and 295 are provided in the second lower chuck moving part 296. The second lower chuck moving part 296 is attached to a pair of rails 297 and 297 provided on the lower surface side of the second lower chuck moving part 296 and extending in the horizontal direction (X axis direction). The second lower chuck moving part 296 is configured to be movable along the rails 297 and 297, namely to move the lower chuck 231 in the horizontal direction (X axis direction). The rails 297 and 297 are provided on a mounting table 298 provided on the bottom surface of the processing container 190.

Next, the configurations of the upper chuck 230 and the lower chuck 231 will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13. FIG. 11 is a schematic side view showing the configurations of the upper chuck 230 and the lower chuck 231. FIG. 12 is a schematic plan view of the upper chuck 230 as viewed from below, and FIG. 13 is a schematic plan view of the lower chuck 231 as viewed from above.

As shown in FIG. 11, the upper chuck 230 is partitioned into a plurality of, for example, three regions 230 a, 230 b and 230 c. As shown in FIG. 12, these regions 230 a, 230 b and 230 c are provided in this order from the central portion of the upper chuck 230 toward the peripheral edge portion (outer peripheral portion) thereof. The region 230 a has a circular shape in a plan view, and the regions 230 b and 230 c have an annular shape in a plan view.

As shown in FIG. 11, suction pipes 240 a, 240 b and 240 c for sucking and holding the upper wafer W1 are provided independently in the respective regions 230 a, 230 b and 230 c. Different vacuum pumps 241 a, 241 b and 241 c are connected to the suction pipes 240 a, 240 b and 240 c, respectively. In this manner, the upper chuck 230 is configured so as to be able to set the vacuum drawing of the upper wafer W1 for each of the regions 230 a, 230 b and 230 c.

Further, the upper chuck 230 is provided with a plurality of holding pins 245 that can be moved up and down in the vertical direction. A vacuum pump 246 is connected to the holding pins 245. That is to say, the holding pins 245 can hold the upper wafer W1 through vacuum suction by the operation of the vacuum pump 246.

Accordingly, in the upper chuck 230, for example, the holding pins 245 suck and receive the upper wafer W1 in a state in which the holding pins 245 protrude from the holding surface. Thereafter, the holding pins 245 are moved upward to bring the upper wafer W1 into contact with the holding surface. Subsequently, in the upper chuck 230, the vacuum pumps 241 a, 241 b and 241 c are operated to suck and hold the upper wafer W1 in the regions 230 a, 230 b and 230 c as shown in FIG. 11.

A through-hole 243 penetrating the upper chuck 230 in the thickness direction is formed in the central portion of the upper chuck 230. The central portion of the upper chuck 230 corresponds to the central portion W1 a of the upper wafer W1 sucked and held by the upper chuck 230. A pushing pin 251 of a pushing member 250 to be described later is inserted into the through-hole 243.

On the upper surface of the upper chuck 230, a pushing member 250 for pushing the central portion of the upper wafer W1 is provided. The pushing member 250 has a cylinder structure and includes a pushing pin 251 and an outer cylinder 252 serving as a guide when the pushing pin 251 moves up and down. The pushing pin 251 can be vertically moved up and down through the through-hole 243 by, for example, a driving part (not shown) incorporating a motor therein. At the time of bonding the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 as described later, the pushing member 250 can press the central portion W1 a of the upper wafer W1 and the central portion W2 a of the lower wafer W2 against each other.

As shown in FIG. 13, the lower chuck 231 is partitioned into a plurality of, for example, two regions 231 a and 231 b. These regions 231 a and 231 b are provided in this order from the central portion of the lower chuck 231 toward the peripheral edge portion thereof. The region 231 a has a circular shape in a plan view, and the region 231 b has an annular shape in a plan view.

As shown in FIG. 11, suction pipes 260 a and 260 b for sucking and holding the lower wafer W2 are provided independently in the respective regions 231 a and 231 b. Different vacuum pumps 261 a and 261 b are connected to the suction pipes 260 a and 260 b, respectively. As described above, the lower chuck 231 is configured so as to be able to set the vacuum drawing of the lower wafer W2 for each of the regions 231 a and 231 b.

Further, the lower chuck 231 is provided with a plurality of holding pins 265 capable of moving up and down in the vertical direction. In the lower chuck 231, for example, the holding pins 265 mount and receive the lower wafer W2 in a state in which the holding pins 265 protrude from the holding surface. Thereafter, the holding pins 265 are moved down to bring the lower wafer W2 into contact with the holding surface. Subsequently, in the lower chuck 231, the vacuum pumps 261 a and 261 b are operated to suck and hold the lower wafer W2 in the respective regions 231 a and 231 b as shown in FIG. 11. In the above description, the holding pins 265 hold the lower wafer W2 by mounting. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Similar to the holding pins 245 of the upper chuck 230, the holding pins 265 may hold the lower wafer W2 by suction.

In the peripheral edge portion of the lower chuck 231, stopper members 263 for preventing the upper wafer W1, the lower wafer W2 and the laminated wafer T from jumping out or slipping off from the lower chuck 231 are provided at a plurality of locations, for example, at five locations.

<3. Wafer Position Adjusting and Bonding Operation in Bonding Apparatus>

Next, the position adjustment of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 and the bonding operation of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 in the bonding apparatus 41 configured as above will be specifically described. FIGS. 14A to 14H are operation explanation views of the bonding apparatus 41.

It is assumed that the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 shown in FIGS. 14A to 14H have undergone the modifying process and the hydrophilizing process on the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j, respectively. In addition, it is assumed that the non-bonding surface W1 n of the upper wafer W1 is sucked and held by the upper chuck 230 and the non-bonding surface W2 n of the lower wafer W2 is sucked and held by the lower chuck 231.

Then, the upper wafer W1 held by the upper chuck 230 and the lower wafer W2 held by the lower chuck 231 are subjected to horizontal position adjustment.

As shown in FIG. 14A, a predetermined plurality of, for example, three reference points A1 to A3 are formed on the bonding surface W1 j of the upper wafer W1. Similarly, a predetermined plurality of, for example, three reference points B1 to B3 are formed on the bonding surface W2 j of the lower wafer W2. As the reference points A1 to A3 and B1 to B3, predetermined patterns formed on the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are used, respectively. The number of reference points can be arbitrarily set.

First, as shown in FIG. 14A, the horizontal positions of the upper imaging part 281 and the lower imaging part 291 are adjusted. Specifically, the lower chuck 231 is horizontally moved by the first lower chuck moving part 290 and the second lower chuck moving part 296 so that the lower imaging part 291 is positioned substantially below the upper imaging part 281. Then, a common target X is confirmed by the upper imaging part 281 and the lower imaging part 291. The horizontal position of the lower imaging part 291 is finely adjusted so that the horizontal positions of the upper imaging part 281 and the lower imaging part 291 are aligned with each other.

Next, as shown in FIG. 14B, after the lower chuck 231 is moved vertically upward by the first lower chuck moving part 290, the horizontal positions of the upper chuck 230 and the lower chuck 231 are adjusted.

More specifically, while moving the lower chuck 231 in the horizontal direction by the first lower chuck moving part 290 and the second lower chuck moving part 296, the reference points B1 to B3 of the bonding surface W2 j of the lower wafer W2 are imaged using the upper imaging part 281. At the same time, while moving the lower chuck 231 in the horizontal direction, the reference points A1 to A3 of the bonding surface W1 j of the upper wafer W1 are sequentially imaged using the lower imaging part 291. FIG. 14B shows a state in which the reference point B1 of the lower wafer W2 is imaged by the upper imaging part 281 and the reference point A1 of the upper wafer W1 is imaged by the lower imaging part 291.

The captured image data is outputted to the control device 100. Based on the image data captured by the upper imaging part 281 and the image data captured by the lower imaging part 291, the control device 100 causes the first and second lower chuck moving parts 290 and 296 to adjust the horizontal position of the lower chuck 231 so that the reference points A1 to A3 of the upper wafer W1 and the reference points B1 to B3 of the lower wafer W2 are aligned with each other. Thus, the horizontal positions of the upper chuck 230 and the lower chuck 231 are adjusted, and the horizontal positions of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are adjusted.

Next, as shown in FIG. 14C, the lower chuck 231 is vertically moved upward by the first lower chuck moving part 290, whereby the vertical positions of the upper chuck 230 and the lower chuck 231 are adjusted, and the vertical positions of the upper wafer W1 held by the upper chuck 230 and the lower wafer W2 held by the lower chuck 231 are adjusted. At this time, the gap between the bonding surface W2 j of the lower wafer W2 and the bonding surface W1 j of the upper wafer W1 is a predetermined distance, for example, 80 μm to 200 μm.

With such a configuration, it is possible to adjust the horizontal positions and the vertical positions of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 with high accuracy.

FIG. 14D shows the states of the upper chuck 230, the upper wafer W1, the lower chuck 231 and the lower wafer W2 after the adjustment of the horizontal positions and the vertical positions described above is completed. As shown in FIG. 14D, the upper wafer W1 is vacuum-drawn and held in all the regions 230 a, 230 b and 230 c of the upper chuck 230, and the lower wafer W2 is also vacuum-drawn and held in all the regions 231 a and 231 b of the lower chuck 231.

Next, a bonding process is performed in which the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are bonded by an intermolecular force. Specifically, in the bonding process, the operation of the vacuum pump 241 a is stopped, and the vacuum drawing of the upper wafer W1 from the suction pipe 240 a in the region 230 a is stopped as shown in FIG. 14E. At this time, in the regions 230 b and 230 c, the upper wafer W1 is vacuum-drawn, sucked and held. Thereafter, by moving down the pushing pin 251 of the pushing member 250, the upper wafer W1 is lowered while pressing the central portion W1 a of the upper wafer W1. At this time, a load of, for example, 200 g, is applied to the pushing pin 251 such that the pushing pin 251 moves 70 μm in the absence of the upper wafer W1. Then, the central portion W1 a of the upper wafer W1 and the central portion W2 a of the lower wafer W2 are brought into contact with each other and pressed against each other by the pushing member 250.

As a result, bonding is started between the central portion W1 a of the pressed upper wafer W1 and the central portion W2 a of the lower wafer W2 (bold line portion in FIG. 14E). Since the bonding surface W1 j of the upper wafer W1 and the bonding surface W2 j of the lower wafer W2 are respectively modified, a van der Waals force (intermolecular force) is first generated between the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j. Thus, the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j are bonded together. Furthermore, since the bonding surface W1 j of the upper wafer W1 and the bonding surface W2 j of the lower wafer W2 are made hydrophilic, the hydrophilic groups between the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j are hydrogen-bonded. Thus, the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j are strongly bonded together.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 14F, the operation of the vacuum pump 241 b is stopped in a state in which the central portion W1 a of the upper wafer W1 and the central portion W2 a of the lower wafer W2 are pressed by the pushing member 250, whereby the vacuum drawing of the upper wafer W1 from the suction pipe 240 b in the region 230 b is stopped.

As a result, the upper wafer W1 held in the region 230 b drops onto the lower wafer W2. Thereafter, the operation of the vacuum pump 241 c is stopped, whereby the vacuum drawing of the upper wafer W1 from the suction pipe 240 c in the region 230 c is stopped. In this way, the vacuum drawing of the upper wafer W1 is stopped stepwise from the central portion W1 a of the upper wafer W1 toward the peripheral edge portion W1 b. Thus, the upper wafer W1 drops down and comes into contact with the lower wafer W2 in a stepwise manner. The aforementioned bonding due to the van der Waals force and the hydrogen bond between the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j is sequentially spread from the central portion W1 a toward the peripheral edge portion W1 b.

In this way, as shown in FIG. 14G, the bonding surface W1 j of the upper wafer W1 and the bonding surface W2 j of the lower wafer W2 make contact with each other over each of the surfaces in their entirety, whereby the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are bonded together.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 14H, the pushing member 250 is moved up to the upper chuck 230. Further, in the lower chuck 231, the vacuum drawing of the lower wafer W2 from the suction pipes 260 a and 260 b is stopped, whereby the suction holding of the lower wafer W2 by the lower chuck 231 is canceled. As a result, the bonding process in the bonding apparatus 41 is completed.

<4. Specific Operation of Bonding System (Normal Mode)>

Next, a specific operation of the bonding system 1 configured as above will be described with reference to FIG. 15. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a part of the processing procedure of the processes executed by the bonding system 1. The various processes shown in FIG. 15 are executed under the control of the control device 100. The processes shown in FIG. 15 are processes in a “normal mode” in which a normal bonding process is performed in the bonding apparatus 41 of the bonding system 1.

First, a cassette C1 accommodating a plurality of upper wafers W1, a cassette C2 accommodating a plurality of lower wafers W2, and an empty cassette C3 are mounted on the predetermined mounting plates 11 of the loading/unloading station 2. Thereafter, the upper wafer W1 in the cassette C1 is taken out by the transfer device 22 and is transferred to the transition 53 of the third processing block G3 of the processing station 3.

Next, the upper wafer W1 is transferred to the load lock chamber 31 of the first processing block G1 by the transfer device 61 and is mounted on the transition 31 a 1, whereby the delivery of the upper wafer W1 is performed (step S101). Next, after the gate valve 36 a is closed, the vacuum pump 31 c is operated, whereby the load lock chamber 31 is depressurized into a depressurized atmosphere (step S102).

Next, the upper wafer W1 is transferred from the load lock chamber 31 to the surface modifying apparatus 33 by the modifying transfer device 32 a of the transfer chamber 32. In the surface modifying apparatus 33, an oxygen gas as a process gas is excited into plasma and ionized under a depressurized atmosphere. The oxygen ions are irradiated onto the bonding surface W1 j of the upper wafer W1, whereby the bonding surface W1 j is plasma-processed. As a result, the bonding surface W1 j of the upper wafer W1 is modified (step S103).

Next, the upper wafer W1 is transferred from the surface modifying apparatus 33 to the load lock chamber 31 by the modifying transfer device 32 a and is mounted on the transition 31 a 2. Then, the load lock chamber 31 is switched from the depressurized atmosphere to an atmospheric pressure atmosphere by opening the gate valve 36 a, and the upper wafer W1 is delivered (step S104). As described above, the load lock chamber 31 is set to an atmospheric pressure atmosphere. However, the transfer chamber 32 and the surface modifying apparatus 33 are kept in the depressurized atmosphere.

Next, the upper wafer W1 is transferred from the load lock chamber 31 to the surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34 by the transfer device 61. In the surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34, while rotating the upper wafer W1 held by the spin chuck, pure water is supplied onto the upper wafer W1. Then, the supplied pure water diffuses on the bonding surface W1 j of the upper wafer W1. A hydroxyl group (silanol group) adheres to the bonding surface W1 j of the upper wafer W1 modified in the surface modifying apparatus 33, whereby the bonding surface W1 j is rendered hydrophilic. In addition, the bonding surface W1 j of the upper wafer W1 is cleaned with the pure water (step S105).

Next, the hydrophilized upper wafer W1 is transferred to the position adjusting device 51 by the transfer device 61. Then, the horizontal orientation of the upper wafer is adjusted by the position adjusting device 51 (step S106).

Thereafter, the front and back surfaces of the upper wafer W1 are inverted by the base inverting part 51 d of the position adjusting device 51, whereby the bonding surface W1 j serves as a lower surface (step S107). Next, the upper wafer W1 having the bonding surface W1 j as a lower surface is transferred to the substrate temperature control device 42 by the transfer device 61. The upper wafer W1 is sucked and held by the first temperature control holding plate 42 a of the substrate temperature control device 42. As a result, the temperature of the upper wafer W1 is controlled (step S108).

The above-described processes of steps S101 to S106 and S108 are also performed with respect to the lower wafer W2. First, the lower wafer W2 in the cassette C2 is taken out by the transfer device 22 and is transferred to the transition 54 of the processing station 3.

Next, the lower wafer W2 is transferred to the load lock chamber 31 by the transfer device 61, whereby the delivery of the lower wafer W2 is performed (step S109). Subsequently, the load lock chamber 31 is depressurized into a depressurized atmosphere (step S110).

Next, the lower wafer W2 is transferred from the load lock chamber 31 to the surface modifying apparatus 33 by the modifying transfer device 32 a, and the bonding surface W2 j is reformed (step S111). Then, the lower wafer W2 is transferred from the surface modifying apparatus 33 to the load lock chamber 31 by the modifying transfer device 32 a. The load lock chamber 31 is switched from the depressurized atmosphere to the atmospheric pressure atmosphere, and the delivery of the lower wafer W2 is performed (step S112).

Next, the lower wafer W2 is transferred from the load lock chamber 31 to the surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34 by the transfer device 61. The bonding surface W2 j is made hydrophilic and is cleaned (step S113).

Next, the hydrophilized lower wafer W2 is transferred to the position adjusting device 51 by the transfer device 61, and the horizontal orientation of the lower wafer W2 is adjusted (step S114). At this time, the lower wafer W2 is in a state in which the bonding surface W2 j serves as an upper surface.

Next, the lower wafer W2 having the bonding surface W2 j as an upper surface is transferred to the substrate temperature control device 42. The lower wafer W2 is sucked and held by the second temperature control holding plate 42 b, and the temperature of the lower wafer W2 is controlled (step S115). In the substrate temperature control device 42, for example, the lower wafer W2 is controlled to have a higher temperature than the upper wafer W1.

In the above-described steps S101 to S106 and S109 to S115, the transfer of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 by the transfer device 61 is performed by the second holding part 62 b. In the steps S107 and S108, the transfer of the upper wafer W1, inverted so that the bonding surface W1 j serves as a lower surface, is performed by the first holding part 62 a. However, the present disclosure is not limited to thereto.

Subsequently, in the bonding system 1, both of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are transferred to the bonding apparatus 41 by the transfer device 61. The upper wafer W1 is delivered to the upper chuck 230 of the bonding apparatus 41, and the lower wafer W2 is delivered to the lower chuck 231 of the bonding apparatus 41. At this time, in order to deliver the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 to the upper chuck 230 and the lower chuck 231 at appropriate positions, the control device 100 causes the position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d to detect the positions of the upper wafer W1 and lower wafer W2 held as above.

However, as described above, the position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the surfaces of the upper wafer W1 and lower wafer W2. Therefore, for example, when the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are held in a stacked state, it is difficult to determine whether the position of the detected peripheral edge is the position of the upper wafer W1 or the position of the lower wafer W2.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, when transferring the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 to the bonding apparatus 41 by the transfer device 61, the position detection is performed when one of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 is held. Accordingly, the control device 100 can accurately detect the positions of the peripheral edges of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 held by the transfer device 61 and can deliver the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 to the upper chuck 230 and the lower chuck 231 at appropriate positions.

More specifically, the transfer device 61 initially receives the upper wafer W1 sucked and held by the first temperature control holding plate 42 a, using the first holding part 62 a (step S116). At this time, the transfer device 61 holds one upper wafer W1. Thus, the position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d detect the position of the peripheral edge of the upper wafer W1. As a result, the control device 100 can detect the position of the held upper wafer W1 based on the detected position of the peripheral edge of the upper wafer W1.

Subsequently, the transfer device 61 receives the lower wafer W2 sucked and held by the second temperature control holding plate 42 b, using the second holding part 62 b (step S117). Next, the transfer device 61 transfers the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 to the bonding apparatus 41 (step S118).

Next, the first holding part 62 a moves the upper wafer W1 to an appropriate position below the upper chuck 230 based on the position of the upper wafer W1 detected earlier. Then, the upper wafer W1 is sucked and held by the upper chuck 230 (step S119).

In this regard, the transfer device 61 holds one lower wafer W2. Thus, the position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d detect the position of the peripheral edge of the lower wafer W2. As a result, the control device 100 can detect the position of the held lower wafer W based on the detected position of the peripheral edge of the lower wafer W2.

Next, the second holding part 62 b moves the lower wafer W2 to an appropriate position above the lower chuck 231 based on the detected position of the lower wafer W2 and causes the lower wafer W2 to be sucked and held by the lower chuck 231 (step S120).

As described above, in this embodiment, the position of the peripheral edge is detected at the timing when the transfer device 61 holds one of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2. In the above description, the position is detected in the order of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2. However, this is illustrative and not limitative. For example, the processes of step S116 and step S117 may be interchanged and the processes of step S119 and step S120 may be interchanged so that the position is detected in the order of the lower wafer W2 and the upper wafer W1.

Subsequently, in the bonding apparatus 41, the horizontal position adjustment of the upper wafer W1 held by the upper chuck 230 and the lower wafer W2 held by the lower chuck 231 is performed (step S121). Next, the vertical position adjustment of the upper wafer W1 held by the upper chuck 230 and the lower wafer W2 held by the lower chuck 231 is performed (step S122).

Next, the central portion W1 a of the upper wafer W1 and the central portion W2 a of the lower wafer W2 are brought into contact with each other and pressed against each other by the pushing member 250 (step S123). Then, the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are bonded by an intermolecular force (step S124).

The laminated wafer T in which the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are bonded is transferred to the transition 54 by the second holding part 62 b of the transfer device 61 (step S125). Thereafter, the laminated wafer T is transferred to the cassette C3 on a predetermined mounting plate 11 by the transfer device 22 of the loading/unloading station 2. Thus, a series of processes is completed.

<5. Specific Operation of Bonding System (Test Mode)>

Next, a test mode will be described. In addition to the “normal mode” described above, the bonding system 1 according to this embodiment has a “test mode” for checking the transfer state of the upper wafer W1 or the lower wafer W2 in the bonding system 1.

In the test mode, the modifying process and the bonding process are not actually performed in the surface modifying apparatus 33 and the bonding apparatus 41. Therefore, for example, the upper wafer W1 or the lower wafer W2 taken out from the cassette C1 or C2 is transferred to the bonding apparatus 41 and then returned to the cassette C1 or C2 without being bonded.

Hereinafter, the processes in the test mode performed in the bonding system 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 16. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a part of the processing procedure of the processes performed by the bonding system 1 in the test mode. A description of the same processes as in the normal mode will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 16, the upper wafer W1 is transferred from the load lock chamber 31 to the surface modifying apparatus 33 through the processes of steps S101 and S102 (step S103 a). In the surface modifying apparatus 33, the actual modifying process is not performed.

Subsequently, the upper wafer W1 is transferred to the surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34 by the transfer device 61 (step S105 a). In the surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34, the hydrophilizing process is not performed. After the horizontal orientation of the upper wafer W1 is adjusted in step S106, the front and rear surfaces of the upper wafer W1 are inverted by the base inverting part 51 d of the position adjusting device 51. Thus, the upper wafer W1 comes into a state in which the bonding surface W1 j serves as a lower surface (step S107).

On the other hand, the lower wafer W2 is also transferred to the surface modifying apparatus 33 by the transfer device 61 (step S111 a) and is then transferred to the surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34 (step S113 a). However, the modifying process or the hydrophilizing process is not performed in the surface modifying apparatus 33 or the surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34.

Thereafter, the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are transferred from the substrate temperature control device 42 to the bonding apparatus 41 (step S118). Through the processes from step S119 to S122, the upper wafer W1 is sucked and held by the upper chuck 230 with the bonding surface W1 j thereof serving as a lower surface, and the lower wafer W2 is sucked and held by the lower chuck 231 with the bonding surface W2 j thereof serving as an upper surface (see FIG. 14D).

In the test mode, the bonding process is not performed. Then, the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 are transferred from the bonding apparatus 41 (step S130). In the process of step S130, for example, as shown in FIG. 6B, the upper wafer W1 is sucked and held by the first holding part 62 a with the bonding surface W1 j thereof serving as a lower surface, and the lower wafer W2 is sucked, held and transferred by the second holding part 62 b with the bonding surface W2 j thereof serving as an upper surface.

In the cassette C accommodating the upper wafers W1, as described above, the upper wafers W1 are accommodated in a state in which the orientations thereof are aligned with each other with the bonding surfaces W1 j thereof serving as upper surfaces. Therefore, the front and back surfaces of the upper wafer W1 having the bonding surface W1 j as a lower surface are inverted by the inverting transition 55 of the third processing block G3 (step S131).

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5B, the upper wafer W1 transferred from the bonding apparatus 41 in the test mode is held by the suction portion 56 a 2 of the inverting transition 55. Subsequently, the front and back surfaces of the upper wafer W1 are inverted by inverting the holding part 56 with the inverting mechanism 57. Thereafter, as indicated by an imaginary line in FIG. 5B, the upper wafer W1 is brought into a state in which the bonding surface W1 j serves as an upper surface as is the case when the upper wafer W1 is accommodated in the cassette C1. Then, the upper wafer W1 is transferred to the cassette C1 by the transfer device 22 and is accommodated therein as it is.

In this manner, in the inverting transition 55, it is possible to easily invert the front and back surfaces of the upper wafer W1 whose bonding surface W1 j serves as a lower surface in the test mode.

The holding part 56 is configured to be able to hold the upper wafer W1 or the like on the upper surface 56 b 1 and the lower surface 56 a 1 thereof. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the holding part 56 is inverted in a state in which the upper wafer W1 is sucked by the suction portion 56 a 2 of the lower surface 56 a 1, the suction portion 56 b 2 of the upper surface 56 b 1 faces downward. As a result, in the inverting transition 55, it is possible to prepare to receive the upper wafer W1 returned next time. This makes it possible to shorten the processing time in the bonding system 1.

Since the lower wafer W2 is in a state in which the bonding surface W2 j serves as an upper surface, the lower wafer W2 is transferred to the transition 54 of the third processing block G3 by the second holding part 62 b and is then returned to the cassette C2 by the transfer device 22, whereby the test mode is completed.

As described above, the bonding system 1 according to the first embodiment includes the transfer device 61 (an example of a substrate transfer device), the surface modifying apparatus 33, the load lock chamber 31, the surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34, and the bonding apparatus 41. The transfer device 61 transfers the upper wafer W1 (an example of a first substrate) and the lower wafer W2 (an example of a second substrate) in the normal pressure atmosphere. The surface modifying apparatus 33 modifies the bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 in the depressurized atmosphere. In the load lock chamber 31, the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 can be delivered between the transfer device 61 and the surface modifying apparatus 33, and the atmosphere in the chamber can be switched between the atmospheric pressure atmosphere and the depressurized atmosphere. The surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34 hydrophilizes the modified bonding surfaces W1 j and W2 j of the upper wafer W1 and lower wafer W2. The bonding apparatus 41 bonds the hydrophilized upper wafer W1 and the hydrophilized lower wafer W2 by an intermolecular force. Thus, in the bonding system 1, it is possible to shorten the processing time of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2.

The transfer device 61 transfers the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 to the bonding apparatus 41 for bonding the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2. The transfer device 61 includes the first holding part 62 a and the second holding part 62 b. The first holding part 62 a holds the upper wafer W1 having the bonding surface W1 j as a lower surface from the upper surface side. The second holding part 62 b is provided below the first holding part 62 a and is configured to hold the lower wafer W2 having the bonding surface W2 j as an upper surface from the lower surface side so that the lower wafer W2 faces the upper wafer W1. As a result, it is possible to shorten the wafer bonding time in the bonding apparatus 41.

(Modification)

Next, a bonding system 1 according to a modification will be described. In the first embodiment described above, when detecting the positions of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 held by the transfer device 61, the position detection is performed when one of the upper and lower wafers W1 and W2 is held.

In the modification, the position detection is performed at a different time from that in the first embodiment. FIG. 17A is a view for explaining the detection of the positions of the peripheral edges of the upper and lower wafers W1 and W2 in the modification, and FIG. 17B is a flowchart showing an example of the position detection process in the modification. FIG. 17A is a schematic plan view of the transfer device 61. In the following description, an example in which the upper wafer W1 is held by the transfer device 61 and then the lower wafer W2 is held by the transfer device 61 will be described. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

First, for example, the transfer device 61 receives the upper wafer W1 sucked and held by the first temperature control holding plate 42 a, using the first holding part 62 a (see step S116 in FIG. 15). In FIG. 17A, the upper wafer W1 held by the first holding part 62 a is indicated by a solid line.

Then, the position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d detect the position of the peripheral edge of the upper wafer W and, more precisely, detect the position of the peripheral edge of the upper wafer W before the lower wafer W2 is held (see step S201 in FIG. 17B). In FIG. 17A, the position of the peripheral edge of the upper wafer W1 detected by the position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d is indicated by points Pa1 to Pd1, respectively.

Subsequently, the transfer device 61 receives the lower wafer W2 sucked and held by the second temperature control holding plate 42 b, using the second holding part 62 b (see step S117 in FIG. 15).

Then, the position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d detect the position of the peripheral edge of the two wafers in an overlapped state (step S202 in FIG. 17B). It is assumed that, as shown in FIG. 17A, the lower wafer W2 is held by the second holding part 62 b in a state in which the lower wafer W2 is shifted leftward on the drawing sheet with respect to the upper wafer W1.

In such a case, the position of the peripheral edge of the two wafers in the overlapped state, which are detected by the position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d, is indicated by points Pa2, Pb1, Pc2 and Pd1.

That is, in the illustrated example, the lower wafer W2 is held in a state in which the lower wafer W2 is shifted leftward on the drawing sheet with respect to the upper wafer W1. Therefore, the position of the peripheral edge detected by the position detecting parts 70 b and 70 d existing on the right side of the drawing sheet is indicated by points Pb1 and Pd1 as is the case when the position of the peripheral edge of the upper wafer W1 is detected.

On the other hand, the position of the peripheral edge detected by the position detecting parts 70 a and 70 c existing on the left side of the drawing sheet is indicated by points Pa2 and Pc2 which are different from the points Pa1 and Pc1 available when the position of the peripheral edge of the upper wafer W1 is detected.

Therefore, in the modification, the first detection result and the second detection result are compared with each other, and the newly detected position of the peripheral edge (in this case, the points Pa2 and Pc2) is detected as the position of the peripheral edge of the lower wafer W2 held subsequently. In other words, the position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d detect the position of the peripheral edge of the lower wafer W2 based on the deviation between the detected position of the peripheral edge of the upper wafer W1 and the detected position of the peripheral edge of the two overlapped wafers (step S203).

In the control device 100, only the position of the peripheral edge at the points Pa2 and Pc2 is acquired with respect to the lower wafer W2. Thus, the control device 100 detects the position of the held lower wafer W2 on the basis of the information on the position of the peripheral edge and the radius of the lower wafer W2 already detected. In this manner, the control device 100 can accurately detect the position of the held lower wafer W2. Consequently, it is possible to deliver the lower wafer W2 to the lower chuck 231 of the bonding apparatus 41 at an appropriate position.

As described above, in the position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d according to the modification, when the upper wafer W1 (an example of “one substrate”) of the upper wafer W1 and the lower wafer W2 is held and then the lower wafer W2 (an example of “the other substrate”) is held in a state in which the lower wafer W2 overlaps with the upper wafer W1 in a plan view, the position of the peripheral edge of the upper wafer W1 is detected before the lower wafer W2 is held. Subsequently, after the lower wafer W2 is held, the position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d detect the position of the peripheral edge of the two wafers in an overlapped state, and detect the position of the peripheral edge of the lower wafer W2 on the basis of the deviation between the detected position of the peripheral edge of the upper wafer W1 and the detected position of the peripheral edge of the two wafers in an overlapped state.

As a result, the position detecting parts 70 a to 70 d can detect the positions of the peripheral edges of the upper and lower wafers W1 and W2 at a time other than when the upper and lower wafers W1 and W2 are held one at a time.

(Second Embodiment)

Next, a bonding system 1 according to a second embodiment will be described. In the bonding system 1 according to the second embodiment, the load lock chamber 31, the transfer chamber 32, the surface modifying apparatus 33, the surface hydrophilizing apparatus 34, the bonding apparatus 41, the substrate temperature control device 42, and the exhaust port 43 are respectively provided in multiple quantities (two in this embodiment).

FIG. 18 is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of the bonding system 1 according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 19 is a schematic side view thereof.

As shown in FIG. 18, the bonding system 1 includes first and second load lock chambers 131 and 235, first and second transfer chambers 132 and 232, first and second surface modifying apparatuses 133 and 233, first and second surface hydrophilizing apparatuses 134 (see FIG. 19) and 234 (the second surface hydrophilizing apparatus 234 is not shown), first and second bonding apparatuses 141 and 241, the first and second substrate temperature control devices 142 and 242, and first and second exhaust ports 143 and 244.

The first load lock chamber 131, the first transfer chamber 132, the first surface modifying apparatus 133, the first surface hydrophilizing apparatus 134 and the first bonding apparatus 141 correspond to each other. As used herein, the expression “correspond to” means that the respective chambers and the respective apparatuses are in a relationship in which they consecutively perform processes with respect to the same upper wafer W1 or the like. That is to say, a certain upper wafer W1 is transferred and processed in the order of the first load lock chamber 131, the first transfer chamber 132, the first surface modifying apparatus 133, the first surface hydrophilizing apparatus 134 and the first bonding apparatus 141.

Similarly, the second load lock chamber 235, the second transfer chamber 232, the second surface modifying apparatus 233, the second surface hydrophilizing apparatus 234 and the second bonding apparatus 241 correspond to each other. In addition, the first bonding apparatus 141, the first substrate temperature control device 142 and the first exhaust port 143 correspond to each other, and the second bonding apparatus 241, the second substrate temperature control device 242 and the second exhaust port 244 correspond to each other.

In the bonding system 1, a fourth processing block G4 is provided on the X axis positive direction side of the transfer region 60. Further, a fifth processing block G5 is provided on the X axis positive direction side of the fourth processing block G4 and on the back side of the processing station 3 (the Y axis positive direction side in FIG. 1), and a sixth processing block G6 is provided on the front side of the processing station 3 (the Y axis negative direction side in FIG. 1).

The first bonding apparatus 141, the first substrate temperature control device 142 and the first exhaust port 143 are disposed in the first processing block G1. The second bonding apparatus 241, the second substrate temperature control device 242 and the second exhaust port 244 are disposed in the second processing block G2.

A transition 153 on which the upper wafer W1 is temporarily mounted, a transition 154 on which the lower wafer W2 or the laminated wafer T is temporarily mounted, and an inverting transition 55 are disposed in the third processing block G3. The position adjusting device 51 and the transitions 53 and 54 are stacked and arranged sequentially from above in the fourth processing block G4.

The first load lock chamber 131, the first transfer chamber 132, the first surface modifying apparatus 133 and the first surface hydrophilizing apparatus 134 are disposed in the fifth processing block G5. The second load lock chamber 235, the second transfer chamber 232, the second surface modifying apparatus 233 and the second surface hydrophilizing apparatus 234 are disposed in the sixth processing block G6. A transfer device 261 is disposed between the first processing block G1 and the second processing block G2, and a transfer device 262 is disposed between the fifth processing block G5 and the sixth processing block G6.

Since the transfer devices 261 and 262 have the same configuration as the transfer device 61 of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted. In the transfer device 262, it is not necessary to hold the upper wafer W1 or the like by suction. For example, the transfer device 262 may be configured to hold the upper wafer W1 or the like by mounting.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the first and second bonding apparatuses 141 and 241 are disposed between the loading/unloading station 2 and the first and second load lock chambers 131 and 235, the first and second transfer chambers 132 and 232, the first and second surface modifying apparatuses 133 and 233 and the first and second surface hydrophilizing apparatuses 134 and 234. This makes it possible to improve the transfer efficiency of the upper wafer W1 and the like.

That is to say, if the processing load of the transfer device 261 that performs a transfer process for the first and second bonding apparatuses 141 and, 241 and the like is compared with the processing load of the transfer device 262 that performs a transfer process for the first and second load lock chambers 131 and 235 and the like, it is often the case that the processing load of the transfer device 261 is lower than that of the transfer device 262.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, in order to cause the transfer device 261 having a low processing load to perform the transfer process occurring between the third processing block G3 and the fourth processing block G4, the first and second bonding apparatuses 141 and 241 are disposed between the loading/unloading station 2 and the first and second load lock chambers 131 and 235 and the like.

Thus, in the second embodiment, the processing loads can be distributed to the transfer device 261 and the transfer device 262 in a well-balanced manner Consequently, it is possible to improve the transfer efficiency of the upper wafer W1 and the like.

The first load lock chamber 131, the first transfer chamber 132, and the first surface modifying apparatus 133 which correspond to each other, and the second load lock chamber 235, the second transfer chamber 232 and the second surface modifying apparatus 233 which correspond to each other, are disposed so as to be point-to-point symmetrical in a plan view about a point D as a symmetrical point located in the transfer region 160.

Thus, for example, if the first load lock chamber 131, the first transfer chamber 132 and the first surface modifying apparatus 133 are integrally formed into a unit, it is possible to use the unit for the second load lock chamber 235, the second transfer chamber 232 and the second surface modifying apparatus 233. This makes it possible to share components. It is therefore possible to reduce the cost of the bonding system 1.

Similarly, the first bonding apparatus 141, the first substrate temperature control device 142 and the first exhaust port 143 which correspond to each other, and the second bonding apparatus 241, the second substrate temperature control device 242 and the second exhaust port 244 which correspond to each other, are disposed so as to be point-to-point symmetrical in a plan view about a point E as a symmetrical point located in the transfer region 60.

Thus, for example, if the first bonding apparatus 141, the first substrate temperature control device 142 and the first exhaust port 143 are integrally formed into a unit, it is possible to use the unit for the second bonding apparatus 241, the second substrate temperature control device 242 and the second exhaust port 244. This makes it possible to share components. It is therefore possible to further reduce the cost of the bonding system 1.

(Third Embodiment)

Next, a bonding system 1 according to a third embodiment will be described. FIG. 20 is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of the bonding system 1 according to the third embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 20, the bonding system 1 according to the third embodiment is provided with a plurality of (two in this embodiment) surface modifying apparatuses 33. Hereinafter, the two surface modifying apparatuses 33 may be referred to as “third surface modifying apparatus 333” and “fourth surface modifying apparatus 433” in some cases.

Specifically, in the bonding system 1 according to the third embodiment, the load lock chamber 31 and the transfer chamber 32 disposed in the first processing block G1 in the first embodiment are disposed in the fourth processing block G4.

The load lock chamber 31 is disposed adjacent to the X axis positive direction side of the transfer region 60 via a gate valve 36 a. The transfer chamber 32 is disposed adjacent to the X axis positive direction side of the load lock chamber 31 via a gate valve 36 b.

The third surface modifying apparatus 333 is disposed adjacent to the Y axis positive direction side of the transfer chamber 32 via a gate valve 336 c, and the fourth surface modifying apparatus 433 is disposed adjacent to the Y axis negative direction side of the transfer chamber 32 via a gate valve 436 c.

Therefore, the modifying transfer device 32 a of the transfer chamber 32 is disposed between the third surface modifying apparatus 333 and the fourth surface modifying apparatus 433. The modifying transfer device 32 a performs a transfer process with respect to the third and fourth surface modifying apparatuses 333 and 433.

As described above, in the bonding system 1 according to the third embodiment, even when there are two surface modifying apparatuses 33, i.e., the third and fourth surface modifying apparatuses 333 and 433, it is possible to share the modifying transfer device 32 a. Thus, in the third embodiment, for example, as compared with a configuration in which the modifying transfer device 32 a is provided one at a time for the third and fourth surface modifying apparatuses 333 and 433, it is possible to reduce the size of the bonding system 1.

In the above-described first and third embodiments, the number of the load lock chambers 31 is one. However, the number of the load lock chambers 31 is not limited thereto and may be two or more. In addition, the number of the transitions 31 a 1 and 31 a 2 disposed in the load lock chamber 31 may be one or three or more.

In the bonding system 1 described above, the substrate temperature control device 42 is disposed adjacent to the bonding apparatus 41. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the substrate temperature control device 42 may be disposed at another location such as the third processing block G3 or the like. Furthermore, in the bonding system 1, the substrate temperature control device 42 may be removed.

In the above description, the upper wafer W1 or the like is held by vacuum suction or mounting. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, a mechanical chuck for mechanically holding a substrate or an electrostatic chuck for holding a substrate with an electrostatic attraction force may be appropriately used.

Further, in the above description, the operation of the bonding system 1 is exemplified based on FIGS. 15 and 16. As shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the processing is performed in the order of S105 (or S105 a)→S106→S107→S108. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the processing may be performed in the order of S105 (or S105 a) →S108→S106→S107. In a similar manner, although the processing is performed in the order of S113 (or S113 a)→S114→S115 in FIGS. 15 and 16, the processing may be performed in the order of S113 (or S113 a)→S115→S114.

According to the present disclosure in some embodiments, it is possible to shorten a processing time of substrates in a bonding system.

Additional effects and modifications can be easily derived by those skilled in the art. Thus, the broader aspects of the present disclosure are not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described as above. Accordingly, various modifications are available without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A bonding system comprising: a substrate transfer device configured to transfer a first substrate and a second substrate in an atmospheric pressure atmosphere; a surface modifying apparatus configured to modify surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate in a depressurized atmosphere; a load lock chamber configured to perform delivery of the first substrate and the second substrate between the load lock chamber and the substrate transfer device and between the load lock chamber and the surface modifying apparatus, and configured to switch an internal atmosphere of the load lock chamber between the atmospheric pressure atmosphere and the depressurized atmosphere; a surface hydrophilizing apparatus configured to hydrophilize the modified surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate; and a bonding apparatus configured to bond the hydrophilized surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate by an intermolecular force, wherein the substrate transfer device transfers the first substrate and the second substrate to and from the load lock chamber, to and from the surface hydrophilizing apparatus, and to and from the bonding apparatus, and wherein the load lock chamber sets the internal atmosphere to be the atmospheric pressure atmosphere when the first substrate and the second substrate are delivered between the load lock chamber and the substrate transfer device, and sets the internal atmosphere to be the depressurized atmosphere when the first substrate and the second substrate are delivered between the load lock chamber and the surface modifying apparatus.
 2. The bonding system of claim 1, further comprising a modifying transfer device disposed adjacent to the load lock chamber and configured to transfer the first substrate and the second substrate between the load lock chamber and the surface modifying apparatus in the depressurized atmosphere.
 3. The bonding system of claim 2, wherein the surface modifying apparatus includes two surface modifying apparatuses, and the modifying transfer device is disposed between the two surface modifying apparatuses.
 4. The bonding system of claim 1, wherein the load lock chamber includes a plurality of substrate mounting tables configured to mount the first substrate or the second substrate delivered.
 5. The bonding system of claim 1, wherein the surface modifying apparatus and the load lock chamber are disposed below the surface hydrophilizing apparatus.
 6. The bonding system of claim 1, further comprising a loading station into which the first substrate before modifying and the second substrate before modifying are loaded, wherein the surface modifying apparatus includes a plurality of surface modifying apparatuses, the load lock chamber includes a plurality of load lock chambers, the surface hydrophilizing apparatus includes a plurality of surface hydrophilizing apparatuses, the bonding apparatus includes a plurality of bonding apparatuses, and the bonding apparatuses are disposed between the loading station and the surface modifying apparatuses, the load lock chambers, and the surface hydrophilizing apparatuses.
 7. The bonding system of claim 6, wherein the surface modifying apparatuses include a first surface modifying apparatus and a second surface modifying apparatus, the load lock chambers include a first load lock chamber corresponding to the first surface modifying apparatus, and a second load lock chamber corresponding to the second surface modifying apparatus, and the first surface modifying apparatus and the first load lock chamber are disposed so as to be point-to-point symmetrical in a plan view with respect to the second surface modifying apparatus and the second load lock chamber.
 8. The bonding system of claim 1, further comprising a substrate temperature control device configured to control a temperature of each of the first substrate before bonding and the second substrate before bonding.
 9. The bonding system of claim 8, wherein the substrate temperature control device includes: a first temperature control holding plate configured to control the temperature of the first substrate before bonding while holding the first substrate; and a second temperature control holding plate disposed to face the first temperature control holding plate and configured to control the temperature of the second substrate before bonding while holding the second substrate.
 10. The bonding system of claim 8, wherein the substrate temperature control device is disposed on a downstream side of the bonding apparatus in a flow direction of a gas flowing through a processing station including at least one of the substrate temperature control device or the bonding apparatus. 